Information about Sauber-BMW

Entering F1 in 1993, the team managed to achieve a podium in 1995 at Monza with Heinz-Harald Frentzen who went on to finish third overall. The best they could do over the following years were several more third places until coming fourth in the 2001 Constructors' Championship, followed by fifth the following year. 2003 was not a notable year for the team but 2004 saw them score points in 12 races while still finishing sixth. They signed former champion Jacques Villenueve in 2005 but failed to make an impact and the team dropped the Petronas sponsors to sell the team to BMW for the 2006 season. They finished an impressive fifth last season, despite the not unexpected mid-season departure of Villeneuve, and replacement Robert Kubica immediately made an impact achieving one of the two podiums they claimed during the season. 2007 Proved to be their best season yet as they left their mark as ‘best of the rest’ behind the top two. After McLaren’s team points disqualification the team finished second overall and Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica finished fifth and sixth in the drivers’ competitions, which is consistently where they finished most their races. Sure to be a challenger in 2008.

Base: Hinwil, Switzerland
Drivers: Nick Heidfeld (GER) and Robert Kubica (POL), (test driver: M. Asmer, C. Klien).

Nick Heidfeld began racing at the age of 11 and at the age of 17 joined Formula Ford 1600, where he won eight of the nine races in his first year of competition and the following year finished second in the German national championships. He entered Formula 3 in 1996, where he finished third overall, catching the attention of Mercedes, who signed him up as a junior driver and he tested the McLaren Mercedes Formula One car. Heidfeld made his F1 debut in 2000, with the now defunct Prost team. Switching to Sauber in 2001, he was later dropped and subsequently joined Jordan in 2004, before moving onto Williams for a very successful season, almost upstaging teammate Marc Webber before missing the second half the season through illness. Despite some impressive qualifying, he finished eight in 2006, scoring one podium finish. Enjoyed a great 2007 season with BMW finishing second in the Constructors’ Title and 14 ‘points finishes’ to end up fifth in the Drivers’ Championships. Best finish: second.

Statistics
Date of birth: 10 May 1977
First Grand Prix win: none (highest finish: 2nd x 3)
Number of Grand Prix driven: 134
Pole positions: 1
Podiums: 7
Career points: 140

Robert Kubica: joined the team as a full time driver midway through 2006 to replace the unmanageable Jacques Villeneuve, becoming Poland’s first ever driver in F1. His earliest success was in the Italian Formula Renault series ,coming second overall in 2002, before progressing onto Formula 3 where he finished seventh overall in 2004. In 2005 he won the Renault world series and was hired by Sauber BMW as their 2006 test driver, only to replace Jacques Villeneuve mid-season and score an impressive third on his maiden race. 2007 was considered an excellent first full season for this newcomer, scoring his first podium and consistently finishing fifth or sixth to help him to sixth overall in the Drivers’ Championship.

Statistics
Date of birth: 7 December 1984
First Grand Prix win: none (highest finish: 3rd)
Number of Grand Prix driven: 22
Pole positions: 0
Podiums: 1
Career points: 45

Technical details and statistics:
Chassis: F1.08
Engine: BMW P86/7
Tyres: Bridgestone
First season: 1993
World championships: 0
Highest race finish (number of times): 2 (x1)
Pole position: 0
Official web-site: http://www.sauber.com

note: Statistics up to the end of 2007 season